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Teenagers

Parenting teenagers has its ups and downs. Get advice from Mumsnetters here.

Original poster

What do I do about this? Please help

8 replies

Morello339 · 27/07/2025 01:54

It's 2am and I dont know what to do about this.
While monitoring my teenage son's phone I found a half naked photo of a young girl in his deleted folder. Obviously I felt immediately sick and asked him about it. He told me they were sent to a school group chat he was added to over night, they are a girl from school and he deleted them and left the chat immediately because he ' doesn't want to be involved in any of that'.
I explained the severity and how I was now implicated and needed to report it etc. He understood this, said it was already dealt with at school as they were from a month ago.

We spoke very openly.

However, where do I go now? Tomorrow is Sunday, school is closed for the summer and I know I need to report this to someone. Although my son says this has all been done, as it was reported to school when it first happened.

Legally, what do I do now?

OP posts:
boulevardofbrokendreamss · 27/07/2025 02:32

Contact school safeguarding. Ours has holiday contacts on their website.

dylexicdementor11 · 27/07/2025 09:22

Do not send the photo to anyone else and confiscate the mobile until this is sorted. In your position I would want to make sure that my child had not shared the photo or in anyway been involved in its creation/distribution, or the creation etc of other photos that may exist. Chances are this is not the first one to do the rounds.
Also make sure that he is honest with you about any photos that might exist of him or other children.
How old are the children involved? Personally, I would seek legal advice asap.

dylexicdementor11 · 27/07/2025 09:26

FYI

www.avonandsomerset.police.uk/crime-prevention-advice/sexting/

Rattyntatty · 27/07/2025 09:27

Email school and ask for the safeguarding lead or email directly - should be on the website. Ask them if they know C student sent the photo around x date and go from there. Hoping your son has been honest then that is where it ends. I would have expected school to check it was deleted permanently.

dylexicdementor11 · 27/07/2025 09:29

Morello339 · 27/07/2025 01:54

It's 2am and I dont know what to do about this.
While monitoring my teenage son's phone I found a half naked photo of a young girl in his deleted folder. Obviously I felt immediately sick and asked him about it. He told me they were sent to a school group chat he was added to over night, they are a girl from school and he deleted them and left the chat immediately because he ' doesn't want to be involved in any of that'.
I explained the severity and how I was now implicated and needed to report it etc. He understood this, said it was already dealt with at school as they were from a month ago.

We spoke very openly.

However, where do I go now? Tomorrow is Sunday, school is closed for the summer and I know I need to report this to someone. Although my son says this has all been done, as it was reported to school when it first happened.

Legally, what do I do now?

Sorry to keep adding to the post. In the future make sure to edit his settings so that photos sent in group chats do not automatically download.

SeaDragon17 · 27/07/2025 09:32

If the girl is underage then his phone has him in possession of child pornography. You do need to go through school safeguarding and find out what action was taken as all people on that chat are at risk. Parents should have been informed at the time.

Rattyntatty · 27/07/2025 09:39

And if he is fibbing - this is implied by the fact that school ordinarily contacts you and makes sure images are removed then he has and may have distributed the images so talk to him again and see if he has anything to add.

This happens all the time OP - just important for you both that he knows how to keep himself safe and to hope that the incident helps the girl too.

gotellsomeone · 27/07/2025 09:58

Photos of another girl were sent into a group chat my teen DSD was in. School confiscated phones and contacted all parents of the girls in the group chat to come and collect, make sure photos were deleted and not sent on. I don’t know how else school could have dealt with it though, unless they checked phones themselves? but would have expected them to still contact parents to make them aware.

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